During the Pleistocene [Ice Age], the coastal marine bivalve mollusc Mya arenaria became extinct in northwest Europe. The species remained present in North America. Datings of Mya shells found in northern Denmark and the southern Baltic Sea suggest that repopulation of northwest European coasts already occurred before Columbus’ discovery of America (1492), possibly facilitated by Viking (Norse) settlers at Greenland and northeast North America.

In this paper we report on findings of M. arenaria at five locations in the coastal landscape of the Netherlands: polders reclaimed from the Wadden Sea and the former estuaries of Oer-IJ and Old Rhine. The shells from four of these locations also date before 1492 AD.

The buckle is from the 10th to the 12th century. Typical are the inwardly rolled rank ornaments. The lion’s head with outstretched tongue (buckle thorn) was often used in the Nordic art world, especially in sculptures in churches.

The buckle will be exhibited in the town hall of Oudewater. The amateur archaeologist does not say where he made his discovery. He fears that other people will scour the meadows. Farmers may be affected by that, he says.

OTTAWA, CANADA—Traces of bronze and glass have been detected on a piece of a small, 1,000-year-old stone vessel recovered from Baffin Island in the 1960s. According to Patricia Sutherland of the University of Aberdeen, Peter Thompson of Peter H. Thompson Geological Consulting, Ltd., and Patricia Hunt of the Geological Survey of Canada, who published their findings in the journal Geoarchaeology, the container was used as a crucible for melting bronze and casting small tools or ornaments. The glass formed when the rock was heated to high temperatures. Indigenous peoples of the Canadian Arctic did not practice high-temperature metalworking at this time, but a similar stone crucible has been found at a Viking site in Norway.

“The crucible adds an intriguing new element to this emerging chapter in the early history of northern Canada. It may be the earliest evidence of high-temperature nonferrous metalworking in North America to the north of what is now Mexico,” Sutherland told Sci-News.com. To read in-depth about some of the earliest evidence of Viking warfare, see “The First Vikings.”

The largest haul of Viking treasure ever found in Britain has been unearthed by a metal detector enthusiast, it was revealed today.The discovery was found on Church of Scotland land after the detectorist painstakingly searched the unidentified area in Dumfries and Galloway for more than a year.

A hoard of Viking treasure found in Dumfries and Galloway has been described one of the most significant archaeological finds [in] Scottish history.

Early indication suggest there are over 100 artefacts, comprising several gold objects.

The hoard also included a complete metal vessel containing more objects. This has not yet been emptied and the first step will be to examine its contents by x-ray techniques.

Experts have begun to examine the finds, but it is already clear that this is one of the most significant Viking hoards ever discovered in Scotland.

Head of the Treasure Trove Unit Stuart Campbell, who is overseeing the recovery and assessment of the find, said: “This is a very important and significant find and has required the close cooperation of Historic Scotland with Treasure Trove Unit and National Museums Scotland staff to recover the fascinating items it contains.

“Due to the quantity and variety of the objects, and the importance of the find overall, it will take some time for experts to assess the hoard as a whole so that we can appreciate its true significance.

“We look forward to learning more.”

Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs said: “The Vikings were well known for having raided these shores in the past, but today we can appreciate what they have left behind, with this wonderful addition to Scotland’s cultural heritage.

“It’s clear that these artefacts are of great value in themselves, but their greatest value will be in what they can contribute to our understanding of life in early medieval Scotland, and what they tell us about the interaction between the different peoples in these islands at that time.

“The Dumfries hoard opens a fascinating window on a formative period in the story of Scotland and just goes to show how important our archaeological heritage in Scotland continues to be.

“As ever, the Scottish Government will work to facilitate and support the discovery, analysis and exhibiting of finds like this, for the benefit of people here and abroad. With that in mind I would like to echo the praise for the responsible behaviour of the metal detectorists: without their continued cooperation this would not be possible.”

The location of the find is not being revealed. The Scottish Government, Treasure Trove Unit and Historic Scotland are all involved in ensuring the area is properly protected while the full historical significance of the site is established.

A second Audubon’s Shearwater has been brought to SCF for care-taking on June 9th, 2010. It was found by yachties floating apathetic near Ladder Bay. The animal seems exhausted, but it is in good health and without injuries. One can be lucky to see these elusive seabirds once in a lifetime, since they only return to shore at night. It is suspicious that in such short time 2 “Wedwegos” have been found in dire need of help.

The Vikings were a tough crowd, but according to Njal’s Saga (written in the 13th century) they were terrified by the calls and wailing of what they thought were trolls, and ‘night ravens’ along the coasts of western Scotland and Wales. Almost definitely, these creatures were Manx Shearwaters, a seabird that only visits the nesting colonies at night.

Manx Shearwaters and their slightly smaller tropical cousin, the Audubon’s Shearwater, spend the day far out to sea, and are known to dive to 35 metres to feed on squid and a variety of fish. Black above and pure white below, this 180 – 230 grams bird is about 30 centimetres in length and has a wingspan of about 70 centimetres. It is called shearwater for the way it tilts to the left or right, ‘shearing’ through the wind and taking advantage of the uplift from the winds over the sea surface. A member of the genus ‘Puffinus’, so called because the young were fat (or ‘puffing’) they were often caught and eaten with potatoes or salted and stored in barrels for the winter, or to sell. Archaeological sites throughout the Caribbean contain remains of Audubon’s Shearwaters, as historically they were an important source of protein. Even today, another seabird from a different family, and commonly known as a ‘Puffin’, is considered a delicacy on the Faeroe Islands and Iceland.

The common or English name for Audubon’s Shearwater was given for John James Audubon, the bird artist who illustrated the Birds of America and became the best known painter of American birds. But the bird’s full scientific name is Puffinus lherminieri, in honour of Felix Louis l’Herminier, a French naturalist whose father was exiled to the French colony of Guadaloupe [he later wrote a seminal paper on the structure and sternum – breast-bone – of birds, and was welcomed to France and given the title of Royal Naturalist].

The Vikings were not the only ones to be wary of these nocturnal seabirds. Throughout the Caribbean, Audubon’s Shearwater and closely related species have gained a devilish reputation because of their strange nocturnal calls. Caribbean people have used the name ‘diablotin’ or ‘devil bird’, and sometimes the locations where they would be heard is named after them, for example, Mourne Diablotin, (Devil mountain) on Dominica. Other names for these mysterious and raucous birds are onomatopoeic that phonetically try to imitate the call, thus ‘Chokwèkwè’ is sometimes used on Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba, and ‘Wedrego’ is commonly used on Saba, and St. Eustatius. The Wedrego of Saba is so deeply ingrained into the culture that it is the National bird and is shown on the island’s crest. Well, almost. In fact, the head of the bird on Saba’s crest more closely resembles the European Manx Shearwater, and perhaps the artist was more familiar with that species? But, in truth they do look very similar.

Audubon’s Shearwater are perfectly adapted for life at sea, and this includes their feet being located at the back of their body so that in combination with their wings they can propel themselves ‘flying’ underwater, chasing and then catching fish with their sharply edged beak. These perfect adaptations for feeding at sea become a liability when the bird comes ashore to breed, as they can only shuffle to their burrows after a less than delicate landing. This makes them vulnerable to predators such as cats, rats, and in the past, humans. Consequently, the Wedrego of Saba may be avoiding predators by nesting in remote areas or along precipitous cliffs where it is more difficult for predators to reach.

It is in part because of their nocturnal behaviour that these birds are relatively poorly known. However, most detailed studies of Audubon’s Shearwater within the Caribbean have taken place in the Bahamas where fortunately the nesting areas are low-lying and easy to access. In general, Audubon’s Shearwaters are thought to be declining throughout the Caribbean but there is insufficient information to confirm this view.

Coordinated by the Saba Conservation Foundation (SCF), with support from DCNA, Vogelbescherming, Kansas University, and AES Inc., studies of the Wedrego status, distribution, nesting success and threats have recently begun on Saba. However, the precipitous landscape does not make it easy. Consequently, a variety of different techniques are being used to identify where they nest, and how many individuals may be present. These methods include, comparing the habitat of areas where birds are heard calling verses those areas where there is no calling, recording their calls, and subsequently analysing them digitally to recognise males and females, and individuals. This vocalisation recognition technique (or voice recognition) assists in ‘fingerprinting’ individuals and thereby knowing the number of individuals and whether they return in subsequent years. Where feasible and safe, field surveys are being conducted in likely nesting areas and if possible we hope to use specially modified RADAR to assist in locating highly probable nesting areas. Bird RADAR has been successfully used to detect the scale and distribution of similar shearwater species on Hawaii, and is also used to inform and minimise potential bird strikes by aircraft in Israel. All these approaches have their practical challenges and it may be some time before we have any real understanding of the status of Audubon’s Shearwater in the Dutch Caribbean.

Without the very basic understanding of the shearwater’s breeding status and threats, it is difficult to know how to manage or conserve them. Nevertheless, a collaborative draft species management and conservation plan has been written with input from SCF, DCNA, Rijksdienst Caribisch Nederlands (RCN), and other groups and technical experts.

Conservation science is always a challenge and for this species, we are really in the dark. However, just as I was finishing this article, news came that nesting Audubon’s Shearwater have been found at an undisclosed location on the ABC islands. This observation is the first confirmed nesting record for this species on any of the ABC islands, and is very exciting. Hopefully, this will be the start of more findings, and a greater understanding of this mysterious nocturnal bird. Armed with more information of their conservation ecology we can assist in their becoming a more widespread, populous, and sustainable species throughout the Dutch Caribbean. Vikings beware.

During the Viking age (late 8th to mid 10th century) Vikings from Norway established colonies across Scotland, the Scottish islands, Ireland, and Isle of Man. They also explored the north Atlantic, settling in the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Newfoundland and Greenland. While they intentionally took with them domestic animals such as horses, sheep, goats and chickens they also inadvertently carried pest species, including mice.

A multinational team of researchers from the UK, USA, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden used techniques designed to characterize genetic similarity, and hence the relatedness of one population, or one individual, with another, to determine a mouse colonization timeline. Modern samples of mouse DNA were collected and compared to ancient samples dating mostly from the 10th to the 12th century. Samples of house mouse DNA were collected from nine sites in Iceland, Narsaq in Greenland, and four sites near the Viking archaeological site, L’Anse aux Meadows, in Newfoundland. The ancient samples came from the Eastern and Western settlements in Greenland and four archaeological sites in Iceland.

Analysis of mouse mitochondrial DNA showed that house mice (M. m. domesticus) hitched a lift with the Vikings, in the early 10th century, into Iceland, either from Norway or the northern part of the British Isles. From Iceland the mice continued their journey on Viking ships to settlements in Greenland. However, while descendants of these stowaways can still be found in Iceland, the early colonizers in Greenland have become extinct and their role has been filled by interloping Danish mice (M. m. musculus) brought by a second wave of European human immigrants.

Dr Eleanor Jones (affiliated with the University of York and Uppsala University) explained, “Human settlement history over the last 1000 years is reflected in the genetic sequence of mouse mitochondrial DNA. We can match the pattern of human populations to that of the house mice.” Prof Jeremy Searle, from Cornell University, continued, “Absence of traces of ancestral DNA in modern mice can be just as important. We found no evidence of house mice from the Viking period in Newfoundland. If mice did arrive in Newfoundland, then like the Vikings, their presence was fleeting and we found no genetic evidence of it.”